CISA taps Nicholas Andersen for executive assistant director of cybersecurity

He takes over a key leadership role in a position that’s seen rapid turnover over the past year.

Nicholas Andersen is taking over a top leadership role at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, CISA announced Tuesday.

He will become executive assistant director of cybersecurity at the agency in a role that’s seen swift turnover in the past year. It’s a position that has, in the past, led CISA efforts on protecting federal civilian agency networks and protecting critical infrastructure against cyber threats.

Andersen is a veteran of the first Trump administration, where from 2019 to 2021 he served in the Department of Energy’s Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response division as both the principal deputy assistant secretary and performed the duties of assistant secretary.

Andersen most recently worked as president and chief operating officer at Invictus International Consulting, a firm that bills itself as “a full-spectrum cyber company that fuses data science and intelligence to deliver advanced technological and analytical solutions required for our national defense.”

He fills a role previously announced for Karen Evans early in Trump’s second term, before she departed shortly after for a nomination as undersecretary for management at the Department of Homeland Security and then shifting over to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Chris Butera has been serving in the role as acting executive assistant director since, and will now assume the role of acting deputy executive assistant director.

Eric Goldstein was previously in Andersen’s role for nearly four years under President Joe Biden before leaving in the summer of 2024. Jeff Greene replaced him until Trump took office.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to join CISA and the trust placed in me by President Donald Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem,” Andersen said in a news release. “Having led organizations in both the public and private sectors, I deeply appreciate the vital role a robust cyber defense agency plays in securing our nation’s critical infrastructure. My career has been dedicated to defending America, and I look forward to continuing that mission at CISA.”

Acting CISA Director Madhu Gottumukkala said Andersen’s “broad experience across business, government, and technology uniquely positions him to strengthen our engagement with critical infrastructure partners, helping them better assess risk and elevate their security posture. I look forward to working with him as we advance our mission and safeguard the resilience of our nation during this pivotal time.”

Andersen’s first day was Tuesday.

Government

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• Feds accuse China of ‘systematic’ distillation of U.S. AI models

• CIA’s Michael Ellis says cyber intelligence is changing how the agency operates

• The G7 tells industry to hurry up and prep for post-quantum encryption

Technology

• European parliament members call for slowdown of Serbia’s EU entry over spyware use

• FCC proposes public scorecard to rate telecoms on anti-robocall efforts

• Pegasus, NoviSpy variant spyware found on devices of Serbian activists

• Wyden seeks upgraded NSA security guidance on commercial VPN use

Threats

• Chinese espionage groups swarm to exploit triple-link chain of zero-days

• Microsoft discloses two actively exploited zero-days among 974 vulnerabilities

• Russian national extradited to US for alleged involvement in bank-account takeover scheme

• Attackers exploit zero-days in consistently besieged SonicWall product

Policy

• Whistleblower says USPS deploying new, ‘untested’ IT systems governing mail-in ballots

• ‘Watershed 250’ test program in Texas looks to private sector for water cybersecurity help

• Former sexual abuse victims say Grok used their images, videos to train deepfake capabilities

• Cyber threats nudge Trump to sign executive order on foreign equipment in U.S. energy infrastructure